SAN FRANCISCO – Wearable tech stands a better chance of mass consumer adoption if it's irresistibly chic, according to a report out Thursday from market analysts Beecham Research.

Citing Google's decision to spice up its original cyborg-like Glass product by collaborating with Italian eyewear giant Luxottica as a prime example, Beecham's report predicts that tech-fashion synergy could significantly goose sales.

The fashion-first wearable tech market could hit $9.3 billion by 2018, the report says, or roughly triple the current market prediction.

"Current market forecasts are based on smartphone-centric view of wearable technology," says Saverio Romeo, author of the report and principal analyst at Beecham, which has offices in Boston and Cambridge, England. "We see wearable tech as playing a critical role in the drive to greater connectivity and the Internet of Things."

“Unless there is a holistic morphing of technology and aesthetics we will not harness the full potential of wearable tech innovation.”

Claire Duke-Woolley, founder Beecham Research

The report notes that wearable will swiftly move beyond smart glasses and watches to embrace products in a variety of sectors, including safety and security, glamor and medical.

Other examples offered of recent collaborations between tech companies and fashion experts include Fitbit and the designers at Tory Burch, as well as the coming Activite health-monitoring watch from Withings. Companies pushing the envelope of this tech-fashion trend include Cute Circuit and Studio XO.

"Unless there is a holistic morphing of technology and aesthetics we will not harness the full potential of wearable tech innovation," says Claire Duke-Woolley, Beecham's founder the report's co-author. "It's time for the fashion industry to embrace technology and for tech companies to realize that they can't do it on their own."